In copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/926,905 (corresponding to PCT/US98/18345 filed Sep. 4, 1998) there are described medical balloons made from liquid crystal polymer blends. The blends comprise polymer melt blend product of
a) a thermotropic main-chain liquid crystal polymer (LCP); PA1 b) a crystallizable thermoplastic polymer; and PA1 c) at least one compatibilizer for a) and b).
The melt blend balloons so produced have very high strength, but have relatively low compliance and flexibility.
The practice of the invention of application Ser. No. 08/926,905, however, has been limited in that the thermoplastic polymer was a material with a relatively high melting temperature, such as crystallizable polyester or polyamide polymers. The known LCPs had melting points above 275.degree. C., thus requiring that the thermoplastic polymer be stable at temperatures near or above the LCP melting temperature in order to process the melt blend.
Many thermoplastic polymers have higher flexibility and elasticity than polyesters or polyamides but their melting points have been too low to be processable in melt blends with LCPs.
Recently LCPs with melting points below 250.degree. C. have been prepared and commercialized. The inventors of the present invention have now discovered a much wider range of thermoplastic polymers can be blended with such low melting temperature LCPs to produce blend materials useful in fabricating medical devices.